Shoe trees in general have been well-known for at least several decades. Until relatively recently, most shoe trees were made from solid pieces of wood. Shoe trees constructed in this manner had a number of disadvantages, including being relatively expensive and quite heavy. In addition, many of these shoe trees were fairly complex and relatively difficult to use.
Each of the following U.S. patents discloses a shoe tree: U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,095,917, granted May 5, 1914, to W. A. Nickless; 1,290,879, granted Jan. 14, 1919, to S. Baruch; 1,776,831, granted Sept. 30, 1930, to S. A. Eddins et al.; 1,928,596, granted Sept. 26, 1933, to F. Merz; 2,226,565, granted Dec. 31, 1940, to R. M. Kristal; 2,704,850, granted Mar. 29, 1955, to L. Solomon; 2,941,220, granted June 21, 1960, A. L. Schick; 4,261,071, granted Apr. 14, 1981, to R. M. Forte; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 163,106, granted May 1, 1951, to T. A. Evans.
Merz, Kristal, Solomon, Schick, and Evans each disclose a shoe tree having separate toe and heel members connected by a coil-type spring. Nickless and Baruch each disclose a shoe tree having separate toe and heel members connected by a flat spring.
Forte discloses a shoe tree having an integral hollow body with heel and toe portions connected by a bellows. The bellows permits longitudinal expansion and compression and some twisting of the shoe tree. The hollow body is formed by a blow-molding process.
Eddins et al. disclose a shoe tree having a separate toe piece connected to one end of a flat spring. The other end of the spring is formed into a loop to provide a surface for abutting the heel of a shoe. The spring is provided with a flat upper cover of plastic that is rivoted to the spring at intervals and covers the upper surface and the loop of the spring. At the more forward rivet locations, the cover is slotted to allow movement of the cover with respect to the spring. The spring, but not the cover, is attached to the toe piece.
The above patents and the prior art that is discussed and/or cited therein should be studied for the purpose of putting the present invention into proper perspective relative to the prior art.